A lighting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as a lighting device used in a display device of a television receiver. The lighting device includes light emitting components and light guide members. Each light emitting component emits rays of light substantially parallel to a display surface of the liquid crystal panel. The rays of light enter the guide members and exit from light exit surfaces of the light guide members. The rays of light that exit from the light exit surfaces travel to an optical member disposed on an opposite side of the liquid crystal panel from the display surface. The optical member includes a diffuser configured to diffuse incident light. As a result, uniform in-plane brightness distribution on the display surface of the liquid crystal panel is achieved.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2006-108045